{"id":774523,"date":"2026-07-20T20:44:10","date_gmt":"2026-07-20T20:44:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/774523\/"},"modified":"2026-07-20T20:44:10","modified_gmt":"2026-07-20T20:44:10","slug":"social-security-update-millions-waiting-longer-due-to-trump-admin-staffing-cuts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/774523\/","title":{"rendered":"Social Security Update: Millions Waiting Longer Due to Trump Admin Staffing Cuts"},"content":{"rendered":"

Millions of Social Security<\/a> recipients are facing longer waits to secure claim appointments as the agency struggles to recover from historic staffing cuts. The delays affect how quickly retirees, disabled Americans and low\u2011income beneficiaries can access critical income and identity services.<\/p>\n

With appointment-scheduling rates falling sharply and field-office access tightening, beneficiaries may see even more disruptions as the agency shifts toward centralized scheduling and online transactions.<\/p>\n

Internal agency data show that only 64.6 percent of initial claims were scheduled within 30 days as of July 6, down from 78.1 percent a year earlier. In some regions, the rate recently fell below 45 percent, underscoring how widespread the delays have become. <\/p>\n

Read More on News<\/p>\n

The drop follows the loss of roughly 7,800 employees\u2014about 14 percent of the workforce\u2014during the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) cuts, a reduction that frontline workers say continues to strain every part of the system.<\/p>\n

Newsweek has reached out to the Social Security Administration for comment. <\/p>\n

\"AWhat Changes Are Coming to Social Security?<\/p>\n

The Social Security Administration (SSA) is preparing for major shifts<\/a> in how it serves the public. A November operating plan outlines a goal to cut field office visits in half next year, limiting them to no more than 15 million in fiscal year 2026\u2014down from 31.6 million visits the previous year. The agency says modernization will allow more people to manage benefits<\/a> online or by phone, but advocates warn that the shift<\/a> could leave behind seniors, disabled Americans and low\u2011income beneficiaries who rely on in\u2011person help.<\/p>\n

SSA is also testing centralized national scheduling in Tennessee and Nevada, replacing the long\u2011standing system in which beneficiaries contact their local offices directly. While the agency argues that this will streamline service, staff and advocates worry that it may make it harder to resolve state\u2011specific issues that local offices are uniquely equipped to handle.<\/p>\n

SSA Commissioner Frank Bisignano has emphasized technology upgrades that he says will save the work\u2011hour equivalent of 2,500 full\u2011time employees, along with hiring efforts for 1,000 new human positions. The agency is also expanding automation for certain Medicare claims and adding new tools for beneficiaries to check case status.<\/p>\n

What to Know About Social Security Staffing Shortages<\/p>\n

The staffing crisis remains the central driver of service delays. Most of the nation\u2019s 1,200 field offices lost at least 10 percent of their staff, according to a union analysis. Workers describe being \u201cbeat down\u201d and \u201cdemoralized\u201d as they try to keep up with rising workloads and shrinking appointment availability.<\/p>\n

To reduce phone wait times, SSA reassigned 1,500 field office workers to handle calls to the 800-772-1213 number on July 6, with 2,500 redeployed overall. While the \u201caverage speed of answer\u201d dropped from 11 minutes to 5 minutes, the metric is misleading because beneficiaries who accept a callback are counted as having a 0 wait time, artificially lowering the average.<\/p>\n

The reassignment has consequences: fewer staff available for in\u2011person and phone appointments, fewer time slots for initial claims, and less capacity to process back\u2011end workloads. One claims specialist said workers often arrive at 7 a.m. just to handle back\u2011end tasks before the day\u2019s appointments begin.<\/p>\n

Some rural offices have temporarily closed because of staffing shortages or facility issues, forcing beneficiaries to rely on phone or online services even when they struggle with digital access. <\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of people can\u2019t get past the ID verification on login.gov,\u201d one union leader said, noting that having a cellphone does not guarantee that someone can navigate the online portal.<\/p>\n

Disabled and Low\u2011Income Applicants Hit Hardest: Expert<\/p>\n

Tiffany Beardslee, senior Social Security Disability<\/a> adviser at AI\u2011powered advocacy platform Turnout, told Newsweek that the appointment delays represent a direct financial setback for the people least able to absorb it.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe most immediate effect is the delay in relief. The appointment is the starting point for the benefit process. No one will begin to review the merits of the claim until the appointment takes place,\u201d Beardslee said. \u201cWhen a disabled individual is forced to wait two months or more to even get the process started, that represents a delay in accessing the financial relief the individual is seeking.\u201d<\/p>\n

She noted that the average medical determination already takes 6-8 months at state Disability Determination offices. Adding another one to two months on the front end \u201cmeans more time for bills to accumulate.\u201d<\/p>\n

Beardslee said that the shift toward centralized scheduling and online services risks leaving behind the groups most dependent on Social Security.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe most at\u2011risk groups are those who are not comfortable with technology and those who cannot afford technology,\u201d she said. \u201cThe majority of Social Security beneficiaries are over age 65. When individuals in this age group have a question about their benefits, they prefer to do so in\u2011person or by picking up the phone and talking to someone.\u201d<\/p>\n

Low\u2011income disabled beneficiaries face similar barriers, she added, noting that many cannot afford cellphone plans that allow them to wait on hold for extended periods\u2014especially as SSA has closed many offices to walk\u2011ins.<\/p>\n

Because of the sensitive nature of SSA data, \u201crelatively little SSA\u2011related business can actually be handled online,\u201d she said, making digital\u2011first policies even more challenging for vulnerable groups.<\/p>\n

Beardslee also warned that staffing shortages slow the start of disability applications and the final steps needed to release payments.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen an individual is approved for SSI, no funds can be paid until the individual completes a telephone interview with the local field office staff,\u201d she said. \u201cWhen it takes weeks to months for the interview to take place, the disabled individual is left waiting for the money to which he is entitled due to no fault of his own.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dependent benefits can also be delayed, she said, because disabled parents must file separate applications for their children through local offices\u2014another step slowed by staffing gaps.<\/p>\n

Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Jenna deJong<\/a> and Dave Siminoff<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Millions of Social Security recipients are facing longer waits to secure claim appointments as the agency struggles to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":774524,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[1096,28,736,147,530,1666,733],"class_list":["post-774523","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-personal-finance","tag-benefits","tag-business","tag-disability","tag-personal-finance","tag-personalfinance","tag-retirement","tag-social-security"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/774523","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=774523"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/774523\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/774524"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=774523"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=774523"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=774523"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}